


Spring Robin

by Mintoki



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: (maybe? idk how to tag fam), Dialogue Heavy, Fluff, Gen, Humor, Identity Reveal, Original Team, Secret Identity, Team Dynamics, slight AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-14
Updated: 2019-03-14
Packaged: 2019-11-17 19:35:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18105038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mintoki/pseuds/Mintoki
Summary: The team decides to throw Robin a birthday party. Needless to say, it turns out a bit differently than they plan.





	Spring Robin

**Author's Note:**

> I absolutely love the Young Justice cartoon so I figured it's high time I wrote something about it. This is original team focused minus Raquel and Zatanna sadly because I'm bad enough at writing more than two characters interacting at a time and I literally couldn't find a way to squeeze two more characters in. I'm trying to get better at this aspect in my writing so hopefully I'll be able to include them in the future!
> 
> This is slightly AU in the fact that Wally doesn't know Dick's secret identity just because I find it a little more fun that way hope ya'll don't mind too much :)
> 
> I was gonna wait to post this on Dick Grayson's birthday but,,,,, I'm impatient so I guess we'll call this an early birthday gift lol It's a little different from what I usually write (read: hurt/comfort) so I hope you guys enjoy it!
> 
> As always, please let me know what you think down in the comments and I hope you have a wonderful day!

Credit to the guy, but having Batman as a mentor must suck.

Artemis has lived in Gotham her whole life and is definitely grateful for how much the vigilante’s done in making the streets safer. Hell, even if she wasn’t from the same city as him, she’d still appreciate how he kept her true identity a secret from the team when she first joined, because she doesn’t doubt that he knew. Batman knows your whole life story before even meeting you, while you don’t even know 1% about him and even then there’s a chance that even that little bit of information you think you know is false.

It’s impressive, but frustrating to say the least and it’s moments like these that make her wish the man could not be paranoid for approximately 2 seconds. If not for his own sake, then for his sidekick’s.

“What do you mean we’ve never celebrated Robin’s birthday?”

“Exactly that. We always have parties for the rest of us, even Superboy.” M’gann’s concern is evident on her face as she stirs a bowl telepathically on the counter next to her. 

“There’s no way!” Wally interjects, speeding over from the couch. “There was… well there was that one time where… Oh man, we really haven’t?”

“It’s not our fault. Batman won’t even let him tell us his birthday. He thinks we’re going to uncover his secret identity or something.” Conner shrugs as he opens the fridge in search of some food. He comes back out with a full carton of milk and takes a sip.

Artemis can’t help but snort at that. “Yeah, like we’d be able to track down  _ Robin _ from his birthday.”

“You cannot blame Batman. He is just being cautious.” Kaldur appeases.

“He’s just being  _ paranoid _ is what he is. Think about it, even if any of us were able to use technology half as well as Robin, what are we supposed to do with a birthday? Almost ten million people live in Gotham. There’s no way we’d be able to track down someone with so little information.”

“We also know he has black hair.” M’gann supplies.

“At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if even that’s a lie.”

“You think Robin is wearing a wig?” Wally raises his eyebrows.

“I don’t think  _ Robin  _ is, but his civilian identity might be.” Everyone opens their mouth to protest, but no one can actually make a refutation. Batman had proven time and time again that he would go to extreme lengths for the sake of the mission. No one would put it past the man. Artemis smirks a bit at her victory.

“Still, even if we don’t know his birthday, I think it would be nice to celebrate.” M’gann starts. “We’re his friends and I’m sure he would appreciate the gesture.”

“Yeah, but what can we do?” Conner asks, setting his milk down and approaching his girlfriend.

“Well, what if we just picked a day and celebrated it then?” Wally suggests. “It might not be his actual birthday, but that way we could at least keep track from year to year y’know.”

“That’s perfect!” M’gann exclaims.

“What day should we designate?” Kaldur asks.

“Can’t we just pick a random day and stick to it?”

“That might be fine for you Conner, but I feel like Rob would appreciate if we put more thought into it.” Wally zips to the living room wall and comes back to the kitchen with a calendar. “So… any ideas?”

“We could celebrate on the day he made his debut as Robin?” M’gann suggests.

“Nah, he probably already has a special place for that himself. We need a new day to make special.”

“Humans have special days for almost everything, right? So what if we celebrated on the date of National Robin day?” Kaldur pulls out his phone and searches for the day in question. “It would be December 21st.”

“That’s too far away. We should make his birthday soon.” Wally counters.

“You just want an excuse to stuff your face.” Artemis rolls her eyes but smiles. Internally, she agrees that Robin’s birthday should be soon too. The youngest team member works hard and deserves a break.

“Sue me, babe!”

A few more ideas are thrown around, and all of them are rejected. By this point, Conner has gone back to the living room to watch his favorite static channel and Kaldur had to leave to help out Aquaman. Artemis glances at the calendar on the counter and flips it from February to March. Immediately something catches her eye.

“Hey, what if we celebrated on March 21st?”

“March 21st? What’s so special about that?” M’gann asks, setting down the pan she’s holding and moves back over to check the calendar with Artemis. Wally’s curiosity seems piqued as well.

“March 21st is the first day of spring and spring is often associated with Robins. It’s subtle enough, but still meaningful. Also it’s in a little less than three weeks, more than enough time to prepared but still pretty soon.”

“That’s perfect!” M’gann exclaims and hugs Artemis. At this point the archer’s gotten used to the touchiness of the Martian and lets it happen. Wally grins at her too.

“I like it.”

“So it’s settled.” Artemis pulls out a notebook from one of the kitchen drawers. “Now, to start planning.” M’gann grabs her own recipe book and starts flipping through it excitedly. 

“Okay, so I was thinking of a triple layer cake! Or is that not enough? Maybe I should make it a quintuple layer? Oh, Wally do you know whether Robin likes chocolate or vanilla or maybe…”

* * *

Before anyone knows it, the first day of spring is upon them. It definitely wasn’t easy to plan a party and keep it secret from the protege of the world’s greatest detective. There had been more than a couple close calls where Robin would arrive at Mount Justice unannounced and Wally would have to rush to clear the kitchen of evidence while M’gann and Kaldur distracted the boy wonder. 

Judging by the look on Robin’s face now though, Artemis would say their hard work paid off. Even though his eyes are obscured by his dark sunglasses, she can see the way his mouth hangs open in shock. 

“Happy birthday, Robin!” The team shouts, their glee evident in their smiles and voices. Robin simply stands there for a few seconds, but instead of breaking out into a grin of his own he lets out a groan and buries his face in his hands.

That’s not good.

“Batman’s gonna kill me.”

Yeah, definitely not good.

Immediately, everyone stills and their smiles fall clean off their faces. M’gann especially looks forlorn as she carefully sets her cake down on a table and floats over to Robin and rests her hand on her shoulder.

“What’s wrong, Robin? We didn’t mean to assume anything but we figured it’d be nice for you to get to celebrate your birthday too…”

“That’s the problem!” Robin exclaims. There isn’t any actual anger in his tone, but rather exasperation with a tinge of desperation. “The fact that a couple of  _ teenagers  _ were able to dig up enough info about me to figure out my  _ birthday _ of all things… It shouldn’t be something that  _ you guys _ can find out! Uh, no offense.” He tacks on at the end when he realizes how easily his statement can be misconstrued.

“None taken.” Conner responds, legitimately unphased.

“To be fair though dude, we aren’t your average group of teens.” Wally adds.

“That doesn’t really help coming from you.” Robin smirks for a split second, but then it falls again and furrows his brow. “Really though, how did you guys figure it out?”

“Honest truth? We didn’t.” Artemis shrugs as nonchalantly as possible.

“What do you mean?”

“Well we didn’t think this was your  _ actual _ birthday, but judging by your reaction so far…” Under any other circumstance, Robin’s shocked face would make Artemis laugh. Now though, as the color drains from his face, she can’t help but feel bad for the guy.

“This is a nightmare.” He laments as he sits down at the counter and lays his head on the countertop.

“If it is any consolation, we do not have to tell Batman that we uncovered your birthday.” Kaldur offers, setting a webbed hand on his friend’s shoulder. Robin turns his face to look at his teammates. His sunglasses are slightly skewed, but not enough to actually reveal his eyes.

“You really think we can keep secrets from  _ Batman?” _

“Point taken.”

“I still don’t really see why it’s such a big deal.” Wally grumbles. “Even if we  _ were  _ able to figure your civilian ID from this, I feel we’ve earned it at this point. We’ve been a team for what? Almost two years? At this point, I know more about you all than is probably healthy.”

“Wally, it’s not that simple…” Artemis trails off.

“We must respect Batman’s decisions. I am sure he only wants what is best for Robin.” Kaldur continues, keeping a level tone. Even outside of missions he fills the role of leader perfectly.

“No, Wally’s right. Who cares what Batman says. I’m old enough to make my own decisions on who to trust and I know I can trust all of you. I’m already gonna get chewed out, so might as well make it count.” Robin sits back up. “Besides, he’s already told a few members of the Justice League without asking me about it first. This is basically me settling the score.”

The room is silent save for Superboy’s whispered “Wait, Batman willingly told someone his identity?” as all eyes are on the boy wonder. Artemis unconsciously holds her breath in anticipation.

Robin hesitates for only a second more before he reaches up and pulls off his sunglasses. For the first time, Artemis gets to see the calculating eyes she’s always imagined hiding behind the domino mask on missions. Her first thought is _Wow, they’re a lot bluer than I imagined_ which is followed immediately by _Wait a second, I know this little shit!_ _That’s-_

“Richard Grayson!” M’gann gasps.

“I prefer ‘Dick’ actually.” Robin-- _ Dick-- _ grins slightly, but averts his eyes from the four sets of eyes fixed firmly on him. 

“Dude, why on earth would you  _ want  _ to be called that?” 

“It’s just what everyone always called me.” He shrugs, some of the tension in his shoulders leaving at the action. A sharp grin takes over his face. “Besides, it’s fun to see all the Gotham socialites squirm and jump through hoops just to avoid saying my name. It doesn’t do them much good though since B usually forces them into a situation where they have to address me anyways. Sometimes I think he gets more of a kick out of it than I do.”

“Wait, B as in Batman?” Superboy’s shock is evident on his face. 

“Something like that.” Dick chuckles.

“Wait, Gotham socialites? Don’t tell me you’re some pompous rich kid!” Wally speeds up to his best friend and firmly plants his hands on both his shoulders. “When I asked if you could spot me a ten last week, you told me your dad didn’t give you an allowance!” Artemis snorts.

“To be fair, who needs an allowance when your dad practically  _ runs  _ the whole city.”

“He’s not my dad technically.”

“Excuse me, but I am still not completely up to date with surface dweller news and politics. Who is Robin’s father?” Kaldur cuts in.

“Not my dad!” Dick protests again, but it’s drowned out by M’gann’s joyful response.

“The wealthiest and most eligible bachelor in all of Gotham City, Bruce Wayne!”

Kaldur’s eyes light up in recognition at that and he nods. Both the team and the Justice League themselves have gotten tangled up in business involving the billionaire more than a few times. Dick on the other hand, looks like he’s going to die of embarrassment.

“Wait… if you’re Robin then that must mean…” Artemis starts, but she can’t bring herself to complete the sentence. The idea is too ridiculous, but judging by the amused expression Dick is sporting she might not be far off the mark. 

“That must mean what Artemis?” The youngest member leans forward, resting his elbow on his knee and propping his chin up in his hand. 

“...If Bruce Wayne is really Batman, I will have officially lost all faith in humanity.”

“Guess it’s time to switch your planetary allegiance then.” 

“No, no, nope! I refuse to believe that the guy who’s had at least three drunk karaoke videos go viral is the same man who can flip a full grown man without breaking a sweat.”

“It’s all about subverting expectations really.” Dick smiles as he hops down from the barstool. “I mean, if people thought Bruce was competent, do you really think he’d be able to keep his identity a secret? The smart, rich CEO would be the first place everyone would look.”

“Still… that’s crazy!” Wally seems to be in the same boat as Artemis at the moment. Despite how smart the ginger is, he can’t seem to wrap his mind around this new information.

“Makes sense to me.” Conner offers.

“Yeah, well you didn’t grow up seeing tabloids on every street corner covering the latest sex scandal with the man.”

“Artemis, I’m sure Dick doesn’t want to hear about his dad’s sex life.”

“For the last time he’s not my-”

“I’m just stating facts! Besides, I think I was a little too young to be reading some of the things written about him so it’s only fair.”

“I think we are getting a bit off topic.” Kaldur intervenes. “We are supposed to be celebrating our teammate’s birthday.”

“That’s right! I baked a cake just for this! I didn’t really know what you liked so I just made it, well, everything flavored!” M’gann uses her powers to float the cake over to the kitchen counter.

“It looks great!” Dick’s expression softens. He’s always been expressive, but being able to see his eyes brings it to a whole other level. “Thanks guys, it really means a lot to me that you did this for me.”

“C’mon, of course we would dude. What are friends for?” Wally slings his arm around the youngest’s shoulder. “I’m just surprised we guessed your birthday correctly. I mean, what a coincidence that Robin was actually born on the first day of spring!”

“Probably not as much of a coincidence as you’re expecting.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, it’s kinda a long story.”

“We aren’t going anywhere. The day is yours.” Dick’s countenance remains unchanged, but his eyes twinkle in anticipation.

“Well, in that case, let’s start from the beginning. Do you guys wanna know how I’m so agile? I actually grew up in a circus…” 

The rest of the afternoon is spent laughing, talking, and learning more about Dick’s personal life. For the first time, he doesn’t have to keep anything held back in fear that it’ll reveal his secret identity. They already know and there’s nothing he can do about it. They learn about his past and his extraordinary history with Batman of course, but they also hear about more mundane things like how Dick’s favorite restaurant is a hidden little thing in the heart of Gotham City or how he has a huge crush on Barbara Gordon  _ “But you can’t tell her or Bette! I’m serious, Artemis!” _

Overall it’s nice to see the boy wonder let his guard down and get to act like an actual teenager. The team knows that it they’ll be on the receiving end of a lecture from Batman soon enough, but in the moment, they can’t bring themself to care. If that’s what they have to endure for Robin to be just a bit happier, they’ll gladly go through it.

In the end they’re a team, and they’ll be there for each other no matter what.


End file.
